YBC Noir Cocoa Cookies: These are the Japanese equivalent of Oreo cookies, which I tend to have about once a year at the MIT Mystery Hunt competition. Since Mystery Hunt was completely remote this year, I wasn't able to partake in the normal consumption of college-dorm junk food normally shared in person to fuel late-night puzzling, but I still wanted to capture the spirit, which led me to purchase this snack. The YBC snack packs are ubiquitous and can be found at basically all convenience and grocery stores. Ov... (read more) 3.5/5.0
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YBC Garlic Steak Chips: Aerial is a junk food staple in Japan consisting of layered fried corn pieces with a crispy and light texture. The underlying fried corn flavor reminds me a lot of Bugles (which also have their Japanese equivalent in a snack called Tongari Corn), but the texture of Aerials is much more fun. This particular bag inspired by garlic steak is smoky and has an intense garlic flavor, the type that leaves an aftertaste so strong that I was a little thankful I've been working / snacking in isolatio... (read more) 3.0/5.0
junkfood japanese ybc garlic steak chips 3.0
Yoku Moku Rolled Cigares: In Japan, there is a very strong culture of giving gifts to people you work with. There were several times when I found myself purchasing gift boxes from depachika, the underground food courts in Japanese malls, where you can find everything from boxed chocolates, rice crackers, cookies, and candies in beautifully ornate boxes. I would usually browse all the stalls before picking a few I thought looked the most delicious (which was both very hard, because there were so many options, and qu... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Yomayoshi Akamaru Shinmi Ippudo Ramen Potato Chips: These chips are an official collaboration with the popular Japanese ramen chain Ippudo, featuring their spicy miso and pork bone broth ramen called Akamaru Shinmi. I previous had their more traditional tonkotsu pork broth flavor, and you can definitely tell the difference with this spicy ramen version. It has a decent amount of heat but more generally a sharper flavor compared to the more mellow, rich flavor of the tonkotsu. It really does taste that ramen broth, with a meaty and complex m... (read more) 4.0/5.0
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Yoshimi Yakitokibi: Several months ago, I wrote a review of Trader Joe's mochi rice nuggets, a fried savory glutinous rice snack unlike any other mochi I had eaten up to that point. Irregularly shaped, almost like golden nuggets, they were crunchy and dense - the polar opposite of the chewy texture I associate with mochi. Recently, I was gifted a bag of corn-flavored fried mochi crackers, brought back all the way from Japan, where this particular flavor can only be purchased in Hokkaido. The texture and shap... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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